Policy & Political Action

Letters

Dear Councillor Pasternak and members of the Community Development and Recreation Committee,

Registered Nurses' Association of Ontario (RNAO) would like to provide feedback to the committee in support of strengthening Toronto's emergency shelter system. Access to safe, affordable housing is a basic human rights and a fundamental determinant of health.

It was a pleasure to meet with you and discuss medical assistance in dying (MAID), following RNAO's presentation before the Standing Committee on Finance and Economic Affairs on March 23, 2017. As the professional association representing registered nurses (RN), nurse practitioners (NP) and nursing students in Ontario, we are seeking to ensure that Ontarians have access to MAID while respecting conscientious objections of health providers.

Registered nurses, nurse practitioners and nursing students know the value of good oral health to a person's overall health and well-being. Because we see first-hand the impact of poverty on health, we appreciate the expansion of public dental programs for low-income children as part of the province's Poverty Reduction Strategy and Patients First: Action Plan for Health Care. We also congratulate your ministry for expanding the Healthy Smiles Ontario program so that an additional 70,000 children from low-income families can now access dental care.

Thank you for the opportunity to provide feedback on the College of Nurses of Ontario (CNO) practice support services. The Registered Nurses' Association of Ontario (RNAO) would like to recommend substantive improvements to the function and quality of practice support services in order to better protect the public.

I regret that I have to introduce myself and apologize at the same time. My name is Lynn Anne Mulrooney and I work as senior policy analyst for the Registered Nurses' Association of Ontario (RNAO). My apology is for this delayed email as I accidently saved it to my drafts folder instead of sending it to you weeks ago.

After following your work in the federal correctional system, we were so delighted to hear of your appointment as the Independent Advisor on Corrections for Ontario.

Thank you for the opportunity to provide feedback on proposed changes to regulations and bylaws to enable nurse practitioners (NP) to prescribe controlled substances in Ontario.

Due to evidence that NPs working to their full scope of practice, including prescribing controlled substances, creates increased access to safe, high-quality health services, the Registered Nurses' Association of Ontario (RNAO) continues to view this as a priority.

Thanks for the excellent meeting at the Registered Nurses' Association of Ontario's (RNAO) home office on Jan. 25, 2017. Amongst the items we discussed was RNs' ability to initiate psychotherapy. As we have expressed on several occasion in the past, RNAO is requesting the College of Nurses of Ontario (CNO) reconsider its approach to the initiation of psychotherapy.

The Registered Nurses' Association of Ontario (RNAO) welcomes the Dec. 15, 2016 announcement that Ontario will hire 239 additional staff to increase supports for inmates, "particularly those with significant challenges related to long-term segregation." The hiring of an additional 22 nurses and 22 mental health nurses is a step in the right direction. The reality, however, is that chronic and severe nursing understaffing across the provincial correctional system must be addressed in an urgent and systematic way.

I am writing you about a campaign that RNAO endorses and for which we would like your support.

As a physician who has worked with refugees you have witnessed firsthand the horrible impact when people cannot get access to the health care they need. As a humanitarian committed to health equity, your work demonstrates a commitment to ensuring that all people receive the services they need to be healthy and well.